Gastar has a 50-50 joint venture with South Korean trader Atinum in the Utica that the US company operates. It said the Simms U-5H started drilling on 3 April and will be drilled to a planned total vertical depth of 11,100 feet with a 4200-foot lateral.
It will be fractured in 21 stages, with first sales expected in July.
The test well is the only Utica well Gastar plans to drill this year.
